Oh yes it is! It’s a panto, these playground party spats

At the risk of being placed in the stocks in High Wycombe High Street, I would ask them the following: Please stop turning our council chamber into a panto theatre.

There have been several spats over the last couple of months at Wycombe District Council, and rival politicians have continually had a go at each other.

Some arguments, of course, are necessary in the hurly burly of passionate decision making.

But frankly, a few of the rows at the end of last year were not worthy of a schoolyard, let alone a publicly-funded local authority meeting.

Bizarrely, the biggest rumpus seems to centre on the divide between the Tories and Lib Dems. They are supposed to be national coalition partners trying to run the whole country, but appear to be deadly enemies in little old Wycombe.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, except it is all so very petty. For example, the Lib Dems accused the ruling Tories in public last month of ‘self adulation and pomposity’ over the way the leader asked questions of his deputy during a meeting. At another meeting, the Conservatives told the Lib Dem leader he was showboating and grandstanding. The Labour Party has also been involved in various spats.

In isolation, the exchanges would be funny, but as veteran Tory Jean Teesdale said in October during a row over points of order, the meeting had become a pantomime.

Her words not mine, and she is right (and don’t dare say “Oh no she’s not”).

Of course, we want councillors to speak their minds and criticise each other over important issues. But these recent clashes are mostly utterly pedantic.

The most pointless fight of them all came last October when Lib Dem deputy leader Julia Wassell accused Tories of ‘gerrymandering’ when she was told she had no time to ask questions.

Furious council leader Alex Colling- wood immediately rose to his feet, demanding she withdraw her comment, while other Tories shouted at Cllr Wassell to apologise.

Events took a truly comic turn as Cllr Wassell said she didn’t mean to say ‘gerrymandering’, but had meant ‘filibustering’ instead.

Now for those who haven’t swallowed a dictionary, gerrymandering means gaining political advantage by manipulating electoral boundaries – while filibustering is a delaying or obstructive tactic.

So I suppose the Tories were right to have a go at Cllr Wassell for her comedy error, but I do wish they could all aim their passion in more productive areas.

When I was a young reporter, I used to sit at all-night meetings of one London borough council. I was astonished at how the Tories and Labour councillors routinely yelled abuse across the chamber.

“You’re racists,” one group said. “No, you are racists,” cried the other.

I would have hoped the world was more grown up now and that the era of bickering had come to an end. We need our councillors to work together to help their constituents in these troubled economic times.

These playground rows simply confirm my belief there is no longer any place for party politics in local government.

More evidence of this came last year during the rumpus over the stadium plan at Booker. In the end, it was the large and well-mobilised public opposition – as opposed to the political opposition – that scuppered the scheme.

It was this pressure that helped prompt regime change at Wycombe District Council. The Cabinet which enthusiastically backed the proposals was swept away in favour of one that ditched it.

But the ruling party didn’t actually change – instead the Tories reshuffled themselves. The opposition parties could have yelled all they liked and it would not have made much difference; it was only when the man in the street mobilised that the politicians (of the same party) changed direction.

How much simpler it would have been then for the council to be run instead by free-thinking independents who do not have to concern themselves with party dogma and rules.

At the next election, I hope some new independents will step forward, or that the present incumbents will give up their party colours, and sweep this archaic system away.

I know this may bruise some egos, but I really don’t think the public cares or knows who’s representing them as long as their bins are cleared and their tax is not hiked up.

If we were to quiz most residents about who runs us, would they know the names of Cllr Julia Wassell and Cllr Alex Collingwood?

You could lie and tell them instead we are being run by Cllr Gerry Mander and Cllr Phil E Buster. And honestly councillors, no one would care or know the difference, so all stop squabbling and get on with your work.